Happiness Is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown (2011)

Linus is pushed to his limits when he learns Grandma is coming to visit and plans on ridding him of his childish security blanket.

Directors:

Andrew Beall, Frank Molieri

Writers:

Charles M. Schulz (characters), Craig Schulz,

Stars:

Austin Lux, Amanda Pace, Trenton Rogers

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview:
Austin Lux	...	Linus van Pelt (voice)
Amanda Pace	...	Sally Brown (voice)
Trenton Rogers	...	Charlie Brown / Schroeder (voice)
Grace Rolek	...	Lucy van Pelt (voice)
Shane Baumel	...	Pig Pen (voice)
Blesst Bowden	...	Violet (voice)
Ciara Bravo	...	Patty (voice)
Andy Pessoa	...	Shermy (voice)
Andrew Beall	...	Snoopy (voice) (as Andy Beall)

Storyline

Linus is pushed to his limits when he learns Grandma is coming to visit and plans on ridding him of his childish security blanket.

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Plot Keywords:

peanuts | castle thunder | based on comic strip

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Genres:

Animation | Comedy | Family

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Certificate:

TV-G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 March 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

A boldogság egy meleg takaró, Charlie Brown

Company Credits

Production Co:

Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates, WildBrain Animation Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

46 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filmed in a vignette style, every section of this video was taken directly from the original Charles M. Schulz Peanuts daily comic strip, most notably from the 1960's. Rare animated appearances of early strip characters such as Patty, Violet, and Shermy are because they were in the strips used for the script.

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Quotes

Lucy van Pelt: You know, Schroeder, I bet if we were married some day, we'd be very happy. While you were practicing the piano, I'd be in the kitchen making your breakfast. Then I'd bring it in like this and set it out all nice, and prop out your favorite newspaper and pour your coffee. Wouldn't that be romantic?
Schroeder: [screams] No!

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Connections

Follows A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

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Soundtracks

"Für Elise"
(uncredited)
Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven

User Reviews

Happiness is Mediocre, Charlie Brown

Let me say first off that I am a huge Peanuts fan. I've followed them since early childhood and it is still deeply rooted into my character. But there was a lot of strange elements about this special that really irked me.

My biggest problem was Linus himself. He didn't seem like the intelligent, spiritually-savvy kid he had been throughout the comics and many of the specials. Instead he seemed very angry, rather short tempered and seemed different in a very non-refreshing way. But out of all of the things that made me cringe about him, the biggest was towards the end where he exclaimed: "DO YOU WANT ME TO END UP LIKE CHARLIE BROWN?!?"

Ouch.

Which brings up another point of mine: Charlie Brown himself. It seemed that the Peanuts Gang was being especially rude and cold-hearted to good old Chuck. I felt genuinely bad for him, which detracted a lot from the main premise of the feature.

Now, all that out of the way, I must add in some of the pros, because there were many. I think that the art in this special shone. There was one scene where Linus was standing in a field looking up at the sky for his blanket (which had been turned into a kite and flew away) while the sun set. It gave me the chills. Linus is my favorite character and it displayed him as the philosophical and wise character we all know. The art direction really suggested a back-to-basics sort of feel, very retro, and very different...and very cool.

I especially enjoyed the usage of Charles M. Schultz's comics. They were engraved into some of the writing, and the majority of the plot.

All in all, it turned out to be a very mediocre hour for me. Part of it screamed "THIS IS GREAT" but the other, "Yikes."

In the words of Linus: "It has its drawbacks."